Knight in Ballistic Armor
by riflemanlaramie
Summary: Robbery Detective Kate Beckett's life gets complicated when one of her cases crosses her path with Richard Knight, a military contractor with the CIA. T for Coarse Language First FF, summary sucks. Please review. Disclaimer: I own nothing
1. Chapter 1

CH 1: Her Guy

"This our guy?" Detective Kate Beckett asked her partner.  
>"Yeah, um... Richard Knight- changed legally from Rogers, also goes by the name 'Rook,'" Demming said as he walked up to the board holding a picture of their suspect. "Runs a crew called 'The Castle;' they're mercs, mostly ex-Academi - take any job they can get." He stuck the mugshot up on the board, held there by a magnet. "Doesn't have to involve violence, but they seem to prefer it. Knight's a real badass, kind of a scum bag."<br>Beckett looked up at the mug shot. It was a good picture, he was smirking at the camera in a handsome about him looks familiar. Been on the news, maybe? Roguish and good looking, giving off a bad boy vibe. Kate likes the bad boys... as long as they aren't felons. _Huh,_ she said to herself, _he hasn't been jailed or fined for any felonies. And he's cute. I wonder if he has a motorcycle._  
>"Kate?" Demming said, snapping her out of her thoughts.<br>"Hmm?"  
>"Dinner at my place tonight?"<br>"Yeah." She smiled and tapped a knuckle to her lips like a 16 year old girl as she walked back to her desk. The look on her face was her thinking about Knight, she hadn't even heard what Demming had said, but responded anyway. "What's Knight's story?"  
>Demming looked down at the file and leaned against his desk. "Let's see here, charged with-" Kate cut him off before he could read anything and Demming looked up at her with a raised eyebrow.<br>"Nuh-no, I mean... what's his _story_."  
>"Oh." He looked back into the file and said, "His <em>story<em>... Okay, I got nothing." He closed the folder and turned back to his partner.  
>"What do you mean 'nothing?'"<br>"He has no history... the Uncle Sam blacked out his history so we're just stuck with arrests. None of which, by the way, stuck."  
>Beckett bit her bottom lip, deep in thought. She looked down at the floor and then back to Demming who was watching her. "Got an address?"<br>"Unis are bringing him in now." Kate nodded but Demming didn't see it. He was too busy watching three Uniforms escorting Richard Knight into Interrogation 1. He nodded upward to Beckett to let her know something was going on. As he started toward Interrogation, he got a text message. Something he had to deal with immediately so he handed Beckett Knight's jacket and told her to do the interrogation herself.  
>"Mr. Knight, thank you for coming in," Beckett said as she walked in and closed the door behind her. He sat upright instantly.<br>"Like I had a choice."  
>"Mr. Knight-"<br>"Call me Rook, all my friends do." There was an odd charm in his voice that caught Beckett immediately, but she couldn't let it show if she wanted to stay in control.  
>"Then I'll let your friends call you that."<br>"Oh, come on, Detective," he said with a boyish smile. "We can be friends."  
>Beckett's gut tightened and she felt warm all of a sudden. She forced a scoff, however obviously fake it was. "Not with your record." She sat down and stared into his file. "Says here that you stole a police car."<br>"Borrowed."  
>"And you drove it into a chop shop."<br>"Boys will be boys." Then as a joke, he added, "You should have seen the look on their faces when I got out of it holding an M249."  
>"Mr. Knight-"<br>"Rook."  
>"Knight." He leaned forward and the smell of his cologne caught her off guard. "You also have several felony arrests."<br>"Those were all dropped."  
>Beckett narrowed her eyes at him, trying not to give anything away. "You look familiar, have I arrested you before?"<br>"No," he said, shooting her a sideways glance. "I would remember you. Hey!" he shouted, as though he was remembering something. "Maybe you read one of my books."  
>"You write?" Beckett sat back in disbelief, arching an eyebrow and leaving one arm on the table in between her and her favorite author. <em>This could get complicated,<em> she thought. _Best make something up._ "What...?" She paused for too long, trying to think of something. _Smooth, Kate._ Knight made an amused face. "..._Knight Watch?_" Knight frowned. _Cute, Kate... try to make something up and admit that you know... just great._ Then he smiled.  
>"Looks like I've got a fan."<br>Beckett was about to say something, hopefully clever, but the door opened and Demming walked in. "I'm Detective Demming. I see that you've met Detective Beckett." She had been shaking her head at him, hoping he wouldn't say her name but he hadn't seen her until it was too late.  
>Beckett sighed and closed her eyes as Knight looked at her and smiled. "Well, Detective," Knight said with a broad-ass smile. "Beckett here and I were just discussing how she's a fan of my writing."<br>"Oh," Demming said in surprise. "You're _that_ Richard Knight." Then, as soon as the apparent caring appeared, it vanished. "Well then, tell me the story of how you broke into Vanessa Tetro's home."  
>Knight looked puzzled. "Someone broke into Vannessa's apartment?"<br>"Oh, so you know the victim?" Beckett was back in police mode.  
>"Yeah, she didn't show up for work today.'<br>Both Demming and Beckett shook their heads at the same time. "She works for you?" They both asked.  
>"That's cute, by the way."<br>"Answer!" Demming yelled.  
>Knight kept his face toward Demming but turned his eyes to Beckett and smiled again. "Do you know you have beautiful eyes?" Beckett tried to hide her blush by rolling her eyes but it didn't work.<br>"Knight!" Demming was feeling a little jealous of the suspect getting this much of a reaction from his ex-girlfriend.  
>Rick's eyes flicked back to the male detective. "Meh, yours are alright." Demming scoffed at Knight's childishness and turned around, running a hand through his greased up hair. <em>Dude, you're so easy to annoy,<em> Knight thought, _time for some fun._ He turned his face and eyes full onto Beckett and made a serious face. "Can I take you out to dinner some time?"  
>"Mr. Knight-" she cut in before Demming could say anything.<br>"It's Captain," Knight corrected, his arrogant smile returning.  
>"If you say so."<br>"Uncle Sam says so."  
>Beckett narrowed her eyes at him and smiled a sarcastic smile. "Sure." When Knight began pulling his cell phone out of his pocket, Beckett sat back and said, "You can call your lawyer now, that's your right."<br>"I'm not calling my lawyer." Knight's smile broadened and Kate's heart fluttered at the way the corners of his eyes crinkled. What was it about this guy that got her so hot? "Hey, Sam," Rick said into the mouthpiece when the other end picked up. "Is Leon there? He is? Hey, I seem to have gotten arrested again... no, nothing too bad, it's just a couple of robbery detectives."  
>"<em>Just?<em>" Beckett was trying to act insulted, but Knight just smiled at her and winked.  
>"Can I get him on the phone?" the suspect continued. "Hey, Leon! Can I get some help here? ...And she won't even go out to dinner with me." After a moment, Rick held out his phone to Beckett. "For you."<br>Kate rolled her eyes and sighed into the phone. "Beckett." Rick almost laughed when her eyes widened. "Yes, Mr. Secretary... of course, Mr. Secretary... Uh, dinner with you and Rick?" This time, Knight did laugh. "I'm sure that you- An order, sir? ...I'll see you on Thursday, then. Thank you- ...Leon." She pressed the end call button and stared at the wall behind Knight completely confused. She looked up at Demming who had his hand folded over his mouth. "That was Leon Panetta, the Secretary of Defense."  
>"Bullshit."<br>Kate looked up at Knight who was smiling widely and dropping his phone in his pocket as he stood up. "You're free to go, _Captain_. See you on Thursday."


	2. Chapter 2

CH 2: You Coming?

The smile dropped from Richard Knight's face. "Thursday, aw, come on!"  
>"What?" Beckett asked, confused.<br>"I wanna stay and help." Demming rolled his eyes but Kate didn't. "Come on, she's my employee."  
>"Exactly," Demming said. "You're too close to this."<br>"Tom's right." Beckett had a hand on her hip and the way she looked at him made Rick's heart skip a beat.  
>"Oh, well, if <em>Tom's right<em> I guess I could make a call." Demming stopped before he could reach the door, frozen in his tracks, but Knight wasn't talking to him. "Or we could discuss it over Thursday supper." Kate closed her eyes and realized she was trapped. She was still going to fight it though, never being one to just give up.  
>"Can I think about it?" Demming gave her a <em>wtf?<em> look as the three left Interrogation. Rick shrugged as if it wasn't important, but he knew she was going to cave quickly, he got that vibe off of her.  
>The Lieutenant walked into the bullpen with his nose buried in a file. "Hey, Beckett, can we talk about this re-" He stopped mid-word when he saw Knight standing there. "Ricky!"<br>Knight looked over at him and smiled. "Hey, Mike!" He said exciteldly as he pulled Lt. Royce into a man-hug.  
>"Ricky, what are you doing here?" Royce asked with a confused but happy look.<br>"Just helping out on a case." Royce nodded. "One of my employees was robbed."  
>"Oh, man, that's terrible."<br>Demming jumped into the conversation, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Isn't he a little close to this?"  
>Royce waved the concern off but remained focused on Knight. "If they don't want you here, then why are you?" Rick pointed to the whiteboard with his name and face on it and Royce laughed. "You were a suspect?"<br>"Yes," Beckett dove in. "Until he called _Leon_. And now we're having dinner at his place."  
>Royce stopped laughing but the smile stayed. "You didn't."<br>"I did." Knight wasn't hiding any of his 15 year-old pride. "Called him right up -well, Sam- but yeah, Leon talked some sense into her and-" His eyes opened wide in realization and he stopped smiling. He turned to Kate grabbed her shoulders and asked, "You won't wear anything too prom dressy, right?" Kate stumbled with words so she just shook no and Knight eased up, releasing the detective's arms. "Good, I'd hate to be embarrassed by having people think I had a high school senior on my arm."  
>Suddenly, Beckett's mouth started working again. "I'm sorry, what?"<br>"Well, it's just... you look so young and a prom dress... Well, that would be too -I don't know- awkward; dating someone my daughter's age."  
>Beckett's attention was suddenly fully on Knight. "You have a daughter?" Knight nodded with a smile, thinking about her. "How old is she?"<br>Rick looked at his fingers while he flipped each one up randomly, not actually counting. Kate found the way his brow furrowed while he was thinking adorable. "15." Knight had never thought that combining his personal and professional lives was a good idea, so he moved on as fast as possible. "Where are we on the case?"  
>Demming stepped in, trying to keep Knight from getting involved as much as possible. "Kate and I go back to the scene and look for something CSU missed."<br>Royce held up a hand for Demming to stop and then handed him a slip of paper. "Nope, your transfer to Homicide was just approved, you're going upstairs." Kate's jaw dropped and she looked like a kid who was just told that Santa wasn't real. Royce took a few steps toward her and flashed her a sympathetic look. "Sorry, kid, 1PP just isn't ready to give you up from Robbery." Kate turned around and looked at her feet, completely crushed, so Royce drew closer and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Kate..." She shook her head. "Go back in after this case is up and make another request. If that doesn't work... just show them your boobs."  
>Kate laughed through her tears and Knight tried hard to find something to say but came up empty and just looked like an idiot. Demming slapped Knight's chest and said his goodbyes. He took a little longer with Kate and the sadness in her eyes broke Knight's heart. He decided he had to make a call.<br>"Hey, Alexis," he said when his daughter picked up.  
><em>"Dad, where are you? Gram said you were arrested again."<em>  
>"It's true," he said, regretting it immediately.<br>_"WHAT?"_  
>Beckett and Royce looked at him, both raising the same eyebrow. He held up a finger. "It's alright sweetie, I'm fine. I'm working the case - kinda excited."<br>_"You? Working a case?"_ The disbelief oozed from her mouth through the speaker. _"Come on, dad, tell me the truth."_  
>"I am, honey. " He had to wrap this up when he saw Beckett walking up to her with red eyes. "Look, I have to go, see you tonight. Yeah, I love you too." The look on his face told her not to ask, so she respected his wishes.<br>"You coming?"  
>"To the scene?"<br>"Yeah?"  
>"Oh, I thought you meant something else." Beckett rolled her eyes and walked off toward the elevator. Rick stood there, his eyes frozen on her back... not just her ass, but her whole back. The way she walked and oh... the way her hips swung. Unbeknown to him, she was adding a little oompf just to get his blood going.<br>"Come on!"


	3. Chapter 3

CH 3: Making this Harder

Once Beckett and Knight were in her car and were rolling off, she thought it was best to lay down some ground rules for his little ride-along on this case. "Let's get one thing straight."  
>"Feel free."<br>"We-" Then she noticed his smirk and caught his meaning. "Are you going to make things hard on me?" _Fuck._  
>"Would you like me too?" He was no longer smirking. Now, it was a full on grin.<br>Beckett rolled her eyes and pursed her lips as her head fell back against the car seat. "Why do I even try?" she said to herself.  
>"Because if you stop trying to contain those feelings, Detective," Rick said. She was making this too easy. "You'll have to pull over so you can make out with me without getting us killed."<br>"Knight!"  
>"Oh, a whole night? I'm a little shy, so I'd have to get a hotel roo-" The car was stopped at a light so Beckett took the opportunity to cover his mouth with her palm. He kissed it gently. Calmly. Wantingly. She became flushed, her stomach filled with butterflies and her heart fluttered. She just stared at him. He said something, muffled by her hand. She didn't understand it until he repeated it. "Green."<br>"Huh? Oh, yeah..." She continued to drive and made sure to keep her eyes focused on the road so that they wouldn't wander back to the man sitting next to her. She could feel his eyes piercing her, looking into her, searching. Eventually, she couldn't take any more of it and glared at him. "If looks could kill, you'd be dead."  
>"Did you just insult yourself, Detective?" He was wearing one of his crooked smiles again and she didn't know what to say.<br>Kate looked back at the street before finally making her brain and mouth communicate again. "So, you're a writer?" she asked, trying to hid the fact that she was a fan again. He gave her a you-already-know-that look. "What?" He shook his head and looked out the side window. "What kind of writing?"  
>"Well, their episodes from my life, but the CIA makes me pass it off as fiction."<br>Beckett's mind flashed through his three books, witnessing all the happy, sad, angry, sexy, painful scenes which she had just discovered were actual events. "Really?" she asked, with a little too much surprise.  
><em>Shit.<em> He wasn't supposed to tell anyone. "If you tell anyone I said that..."  
>"You'll have to kill me, I get it."<br>"No, I'll have to kill whoever you told and keep you gagged and handcuffed to my bed." He was still looking out the window but then his eyes widened. He turned to her with a smirk and a raised eyebrow and saw her blush. "Did I say that last part out loud?" He had a look of realization on his face and he pulled out his cell. "Jim!" he said when the call got through. "Yeah, nice to hear you too, it's been too long. Look, I need a non-disclosure form... Yeah, I'm working a case with the NYPD and I need- No, just get the form and meet me at East 85th and Park. We'll see you soon... Nope, you're right, _I'll_ see you soon."  
>"Who was that?" Beckett asked, curious.<br>"Someone."

Beckett shut the car off and stepped out at the same time as Knight. She shut the door and turned around to see Knight sliding a folder and pen over the top of the car to her. "What's this?"  
>"Non-disclosure form."<br>Kate stuttered. "But- I- you- what?"  
>"I know, cool? right?" The grin on his face made her want to run around to his side of the car and kiss him, but she controlled herself and focused on the papers in front of her. "You can do that in the car if you're more comfortable."<br>After she finished going through the paperwork and signed everything she needed to, Kate got out of the car and walked over to Knight who was standing at the front door of the apartment building, waiting for her. "Here," she said dryly as she slapped the folder into Rick's hands. He smiled and opened the door for her. "What floor is it, again?" she asked when she reached the elevator. Rick pressed the 4 button and the doors opened.  
>They rode the elevator up to the third floor with two others who then got off. An awkward silence filled the elevator until the doors opened and Knight stepped off. "Where's the paperwork?" she asked, concerned that he'd dropped it.<br>"Hmm?" he responded, raising his eyebrows. "Oh, the CIA has them."  
>"What?" Beckett couldn't believe it. "One of the elevator guys?"<br>"What elevator guys?" He was already at Vanessa Tetro's door.


	4. Chapter 4

CH 4: I Need a Number

There was nothing. Absolutely nothing in Vanessa's apartment that would help them find who did this. There weren't any cameras in the building except the ones that she had installed in her home, but those were gone along with the receivers. As Beckett and Knight were about to leave, Vanessa walked in.

"Rick!" she said, surprised to see her boss standing in front of her. "I- I mean Captain Knight. I mean Rook."

"Where have you been?" Knight said, just as surprised as she was.

"Out of town." She tried to get a view of her apartment around Knight and Detective Beckett but couldn't see much. "Who's this?" Kate could tell from the tone that she was somewhere between angry and confused. "Look, I know I said I wanted to try something more adventurous, but sleeping with another woman wasn't what I meant."

Knight blushed, entirely embarrassed that Beckett had heard that. Beckett just cleared her throat and said, "I'm Detective Kate Beckett, NYPD." Vanessa's expression eased a little. "I'm afraid someone broke in to your apartment and tore it up."

"I was robbed?"

"No," Rick said, unable to stop himself. "It was a burglary since no one else was-" Beckett backhanded his gut and Vanessa stormed in, pushing Beckett a little in the process. "Where were you?" Beckett could hear the concern in his voice.

"I was..." Vanessa trailed off as she saw the extent of the damage to her home. "Son of a bitch! I'll never know exactly what's missing." She heard Knight's footsteps coming up behind her and felt his hand on her shoulder.

"Where did you keep your files?" Vanessa's eyes shot completely open. _Oh shit._ She ran to her open bedroom closet and dug through the pile of clothes laying in the bottom. She found a cardboard box and opened it. Empty. _Fuck!_ Knight pulled out his cell phone and hit 1 on his speed dial. "I need a SitRep on all missions and status check on all assets."

Vanessa was watching Beckett watch Knight. "What are you doing here?" Beckett didn't respond, just kept staring at Rick. "I said, what are you doing here?"

Kate turned and looked at the other woman. "I'm conducting a burglary investigation."  
>Vanessa shook her head and stepped closer to Kate. "No, what are you doing <em>here?<em>"

"I signed a non-disclosure agreement, he hasn't read me in yet, so I'm still not sure what's going on."

"Hasn't read you in yet, huh?" Kate didn't like where this was going, it sounded like jealousy. "I bet he'll _read you in_ over dinner in bed." "Beckett closed her eyes and shook her head. "Your bed. He doesn't like bringing women home."

"That's not going to happ-"

"Oh, so you're already sleeping together."

"No," Rick cut in. Then, with a quick sideways glance to Beckett, added, "Not yet." She rolled her eyes.

"So, what's going on?" Beckett finally asked.

Knight frowned. "Gould is dead." He turned to Beckett. "Your boyfriend's team is investigating, I have to get over there now. Vanessa, I need you to go to the 12th Precinct and talk to Lieutenant Mike Royce... tell him who you are and that I sent you." She nodded in agreement.

Back in Beckett's Crown Vic, she glanced at Rick who was smiling like an idiot. "He's my ex-boyfriend."

"Who?" he asked, feigning confusion. "Royce? I know that?"

"He TOLD you?" Knight nodded and Beckett's eyes narrowed. "I was talking about-"

"Schlemming. Yeah, I know. I just want you to know that I know... it makes you... available."

Kate rolled her eyes and looked back out the windshield. "I'm not available." She stole a quick glance at him, but he wasn't looking at her. He was frowning. "That's why it didn't work with any of them; I'm not emotionally available." Knight narrowed his eyes.

As Beckett and Knight walked toward Sergeant Gould's body, she felt a hand on her arm and stopped. Knight had a serious look on his face, one she hadn't seen before. "Can I..." he started quietly. "Ask you a favor?" She raised an eyebrow. "I'm divorcing my wife Gina." Beckett's expression changed to one of annoyance. "And she wants full custody of Alexis."

"How does this concern me?" She realized this wasn't the time to get back at him for being a pain... after she said it. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Gina isn't her mother, but she's home more and has a less dangerous job." Knight was pleading with her, but she didn't know what to say. "I'm her father, I'm a better parent. Hell, she doesn't even love Alexis half as much as I do, she just wants to get back at me for divorcing her."  
>Beckett was still silent, still wondering what Rick wanted. "My lawyer said that if I can get someone who isn't family or an employee-"<p>

"I don't know you well enough."

"What if that was your daughter? You're a cop, you might not be able to keep her from your jackass ex who just wants to screw you for divorcing him simply because your job is _too dangerous_."

"I'll think about it."

Rick smiled.

"Hey, Beckett!" Demming called from his spot near Gould's body. "What are you doing here?"  
>She started off again toward the crime scene, leaving Knight and his mischievous grin tailing behind. "What's he doing here?"<p>

"Your victim was an employee of mine." Knight said, stepping in between Beckett and Demming. She glared at the back of his head then rolled her eyes and pushed past him.

"Rook?" called a voice familiar both to Knight and Beckett.

"Esposito?" Knight asked, stepping up to the detective. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm a homicide detective now, bro," he replied as they went through the motions of a complex handshake. "You still at Academi?"

Knight shook his head. "Started my own company: The Castle." Esposito narrowed his eyes in approval and nodded. "That's why I'm here, Gould worked for me."

"Sorry, bro." The detective then turned to Demming and Beckett. "You know this guy saved my life?" They both shook their head, Knight felt embarrassed. "We used to call him 'Risk' when he was with Blackwater."

"Come on," Rick whined. "You know I never liked that nickname." Beckett smiled. Rick noticed.  
>"Now she's gonna call me Risk all the time."<p>

Demming had had enough. "Can we get back to the cop work? I've got a youth charity basket ball game that I'd like to get to tonight.

Knight narrowed his eyes and muttered, "And I bet you take yoga classes just to pick up girls." Esposito chuckled. Demming narrowed his eyes and was about to say something when Knight's phone rang. "Knight." His eyes widened and he pointed to his phone, mouthing 'I have to take this' to Beckett. She rolled her eyes. "Look, Sorenson, I know that Mike told me to call you..."

"Wait," said Beckett as Knight passed by. "Will Sorenson?" Knight nodded and waved her off and her jaw dropped.

The following conversation about Gould's body was interrupted by Knight's shouting. "Dammit, Will! Stop calling me 'Writer Monkey!'" He looked around and noticed everyone was staring at him. "Fine, I'll call the NSA back," he said quietly, then shouted back to Beckett, "Hey, I gotta roll. I'll see you Thursday!"

She smiled and waved back. _Katherine Beckett! Did you just smile and wave?_ She sighed and then her eyes widened. _Shit._ She'd forgotten about dinner with Leon. This was going to be a long week.

Knight sat down at the desk in his home office and dropped a large stack of files down on the floor next to his seat. As he ran his hands over his face, Sorenson's words echoed in his mind. "If you hurt Kate, there's nowhere you can hide from me or her." He looked down at the tower of papers and opened the top one on his desk. He looked at the name and decided it must be an alias.

Pushing the folder to the side, he searched through the stack and found another. He looked through until he found the phone number he was looking for. Knight dialed it and waited for a pick up. "Mr. Coonan, my name is Rick Knight, I'm with The Castle." He waited for a response. "Yes, _that_ Castle. I need the number for Rathborne."

_**Oh, shite! Is Knight doing something he probably shouldn't? Only time will tell – well, time and me writing it. Thanks to the 4 or 5 people reading this right now.  
>- Laramie<strong>_


	5. Chapter 5

CH 5: Dinner Guest

Kate's supper was close to room temperature. She couldn't stop thinking about what she was going to wear to dinner tomorrow night. She sat twirling her pasta with her fork and let her thoughts drift back to Knight. She hadn't seen him at all today and wondered what it was that he had to do. Well, at least she and her new partner, Detective Kevin Ryan, had solved the case and gotten the files back to Vanessa. A knock at the door startled her from her mind and drew her back to reality. Her heart sunk when she looked through the eye-hole and saw that it wasn't Knight.

"Who is it?"

The dark haired man on the other side of the door looked around for a moment before answering. "Special Agent Coonan, FBI." He held up a badge. "I'm a friend of Richard Knight's. I've got some information on the murder of Johanna Beckett."

_What did he just say?_ _Is this some kind of joke? Or is this what Knight was doing today?_ Kate would have to have a word with the Captain before dinner tomorrow. She stood silent for a long moment before her thoughts were interrupted again.

"Hello? Are you still there?" Coonan stilled and reached his hand up to knock again but stopped when the door opened slightly. "Detective Beckett?"

"Yes," she said quietly, her eyes reddened but dry.

"May I come in?" he asked, holding up a file. Beckett nodded and let him in. Walking past her, Coonan took in the apartment and walked toward a window. "If I may, Detective," he started, turning to face her. "You look just like her."

Kate smiled weakly and said thanks. Closing the door, she raised an eyebrow when he dropped the folder on her couch and reached into his pocket. She choked on her heart as her gut twisted when the light from outside reflected off of a blade. She froze, completely paralyzed as the hitman grabbed her wrist and pulled his arm back before his thrust. He smiled. The bastard smiled at her tears.

Kate's brain barely processed the sound of glass breaking or the bullet shooting into Coonan's neck. Her mouth opened as her assailant's lifeless body collapsed on her living room floor and a red mist sprayed her face. Unthinkingly, she wiped her face off with her sleeve and went to find her radio.

"What are you doing, dad?" Alexis asked, coming around behind her father and hugging his neck.  
>"Not much, Pumpkin, taking some notes for my next book." He smiled as he turned his head and kissed his daughter's cheek.<p>

"I didn't know you're writing again." Alexis raised an eyebrow. "What's this about?"

"Well, Knight's gotten himself tied up in a robbery and homicide back in the States."

Alexis stepped back and folded her arms. Rick spun around and eyed her. "Is that what you've been up to recently?" she asked him.

Knight let out a nervous laugh. "What?"

"Dad. I've been able to read between the lines. Your books are based on your life, but they're making you pass it off as fiction." She closed her eyes. "Which reminds me: eww."

Knight's cell rang. It was Esposito. Alexis watched as her father's eyes widen and the nervousness on his face turned into worry. He ended the call and he just about flew out of his seat. "I gotta go, sweetie." He kissed the top of Alexis' head and ran out of the loft.

Beckett sat in her hallway, having just given her statement. She was completely cleaned up and had changed her clothes. Knight ran out of the elevator but was stopped by a Uniform until Esposito gave the boy in blue a nod. "What are you doing here?" she asked Knight.

"Espo called. What happened?"

Beckett's head fell so Espo stepped in. "Creep showed up claiming to be FBI with info on Beckett's mother's case-"

"What case?"

The detective lowered his voice and took a quick look at Beckett. "Her mother was murdered; stabbed to death in an alley close to ten years ago." Knight cringed and Esposito continued. "So, this guy shows up and goes to stab her and-"

"Is it the same guy?" Knight raised an eyebrow.

"Dunno, we're running tests to see if the knives match." He took a breath before continuing. "The guy goes to stab her and then gets shot by a sniper."

"He make it?"

"Neck shot. Died instantly."

Demming walked out of Beckett's apartment and into the hall. For a moment, he focused on Kate before his eyes locked on Knight. "What the hell is he doing here?" As he tried to pass Kate, she grabbed his wrist and stopped him. "What's he doing here?" he asked her.

"I called him," Esposito told him.

"Why?"

"I asked him to," Kate murmured.

"Why?" Demming was completely confused.

"I wanted him here."

Demming was shocked. Kate could see it on his face. Why did she want him there? Why did she admit to it? Demming and Beckett were surprised, but nowhere near as surprised as Knight. She didn't really seem to like him that much to his eyes, she was just playing along for the hell of it. Rick was going to say something, but the group was interrupted by a call on the radio.

"We found something," the voice called. "Looks like we found our sniper nest."

_**Hmm. Any guesses to what they found? You'll find out next time… I think. Reviews are appreciated and when I began the story, I had no idea anyone would set up an alert for this. Thanks guys.**_

_**-Laramie**_


	6. Chapter 6

CH 6: Dinner Date

Beckett had decided to go to the dinner with Knight and the SecDef anyway, trying to get the events of yesterday out of her mind. What she hadn't counted on was that the Secretary of State, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and the Heads of the CIA, NSA, and FBI would also be in attendance, basically, Knight's poker buddies. Had she known, she would have quickly refused the order and found somewhere dark to hide so that she couldn't be dragged there.

One perk, she found - perhaps the only perk aside from spending more time with Knight - was the beautiful dress he bought her. It was red and black, strapless, and fit her perfectly. The necklace his mother had given her to wear had also added to her beauty. Jim Ramsay, the head of the CIA had taken extra effort in complimenting her, although, being unmarried, he was one of the few who could. He requested that he sit with Knight and his lovely woman.

The food was good, but conversation was relatively dull until around nine o'clock when the stories began. Mr. Ramsay and Kate both seem to share an affinity for embarrassing stories about Knight, especially the one about a failed sabotage mission that left him mistakenly kissing the wife of a Saudi prince and then begging the prince: "Please, sir, may I have another?" thanks to a prankster translator, a detail, he'd left out of _Knight Light._

Knight decided to call it at around one in the morning, having enough of his life to recounted to never be able to live it down around Beckett. She agreed that she should go as well and accepted a ride in Knight's town car.

Half-way home, she remembered that there was a large blood stain on her living room carpet and it was still considered a crime scene. Knight, being the gentleman that he was, offered his guest room to her for the night and Kate, being half drunk, accepted.

In her state of mind, Kate was convinced to wear some of Rick's clothes to bed so that she wouldn't have to go home to change. Almost immediately after putting on an old Blackwater T-shirt and a pair of boxers, she collapsed on the couch and fell asleep. Knight, very carefully, picked her up bridal style and brought her to the guest room.

"Eww, dad!" Alexis shouted from the top of the stairs.

Rick shook his head and laid Kate on the bed, then, after tucking her in, he left and closed the door behind him. "She fell asleep, that's all," he said as he hugged Alexis in the kitchen. "Can't sleep?" he asked, changing the subject.

"No, it's this whole custody battle thing."

"I know, honey." Rick closed his eyes and gently swayed while holding his daughter. "I hope I can win this."

"Me too, dad. Me too." She looked up at him and smiled. "Gina's a bitch."

Knight couldn't help but smile too. "Yeah, she is."

Kate awoke to the light from the rising sun streaking in through a set of blinds. She groaned as she stretched out and then opened her eyes in an unfamiliar room. Her first reaction was panic, then she remembered coming back with Knight. _Oh God! He carried me in here. He laid me down in bed, he smiled... But then he left. He left?_ Then she remembered changing into his clothes. _Uh, that man will be the death of me._ She bit down on her bottom lip and moaned softly as she closed her eyes.

"Detective Beckett?"

_Shit!_ "Oh, hey Alexis." Kate hoped that she hadn't heard the moan or seen the look on her face.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah," she replied, trying to sound tired. "Just a little sleepy."

Alexis smiled. "OK. Well, I'm going to school now, Gram is at a rehearsal, and dad goes to work at four. You can make yourself some breakfast if you want."

"Thank you, Alexis. See you later." Knight's daughter nodded and left. God, Kate was happy she had the day off. She didn't want to have to deal with being scolded for coming in late, especially if she smelled like Knight. _Mmm. What's so wrong about smelling like Rick?_ After clearing her thoughts, she got out of bed and walked into the kitchen.

"Detective Beckett." She jumped at the voice. It was familiar, but one that she had only heard a few times and she couldn't immediately place it. Facing the source of the voice, she was startled to see Mr. Ramsay sitting in one of Rick's leather chairs.

"Mr. Ramsay, what are you doing here?" Kate asked, her heart still racing from the scare he gave her.

"Please, call me Jim." He smiled and reached into his coat pocket but extending his other hand in a manner that told her he wasn't reaching for a weapon.

"Only if you call me Kate." He nodded, still smiling. "What are you doing here, Jim?"

"Your father's name is Jim, is it not?" Beckett nodded slowly. "Interesting? Isn't it?"

"I'm not sure he follow."

Jim Ramsay pulled two pictures out of his pocket and handed her the first one. "That's me and you father twelve years ago." She looked up at him, confused and he handed her the second one. "That's me and my son." Kate was looking at a picture of Jim Ramsay and Richard Knight.

_**So there it is. Rick's father is the head of the CIA. I got that idea from [spoiler alert] "Linchpin." More will be explained later, along with the whole sniper situation. I hope you guys like this and don't think it's jumping the shark to much.**_

_**-Laramie**_


	7. Chapter 7

CH 7: Embarrassment

"You're Rick's father?" Beckett questioned, quirking an eyebrow. "I thought he didn't know who his father is."

"Perusing the personal section of his website, are we?" She frowned as Ramsay smiled. "Don't worry, Detective, I've got a friend at NSA who knows you are."

Beckett furrowed her brow. "You're spying on me?"

"Not at all, I'm keeping tabs on my son." He leaned toward Kate and added nonchalantly, "If that entails seeing who visits his website, then so be it."

There was so much she wanted to ask him, especially now that she had a higher security clearance but her phone rang and interrupted her thoughts. "Beckett." It was Detective Esposito. She stood up and walked into Rick's office to have the conversation in private. The other detective said that they were running down some drugs found in the sniper's nest that he could have used to slow his heart rate.

Kate walked back into Knight's living room after finishing with Esposito on the phone. Ramsay was gone. Then she saw something that hadn't been there before; there was a slip of paper where she had been sitting on the couch. Kate picked it up and saw two words. A name.

Hal Lockwood.

Beckett took one last look around the loft and then locked up and headed out grasping the note. She wasn't sure if she should tell Rick about Ramsay's paternal claim and she wasn't sure how she would explain the name on the paper in her pocket... wait. She was wearing Knight's clothes. Hopefully, should could get her extra clothes from her desk and change before anyone noticed. Unfortunately, she had no such luck.

"Yo Beckett," Detective Esposito said, waiting for her in the lobby. "Why are you wearing Risk's shirt?"

Kate pursed her lips and gave Esposito a look. "I'm not."

"Check it, girl," he said, lifting the left sleeve to show her a long hole in it. "I did this about three years ago while we were sparring with knives."

Beckett narrowed her eyes and brushed by him. She waited on the elevator until he boarded and then pressed the button to her floor. When the other detective gave her a questioning look, she said, "I'm getting a change of clothes. Oh, hey," she reached into her pocket and pulled out the slip of paper. "This might be a lead."

"Hal Lockwood? Where'd you get this?"

"Jim Ramsay."

"Who's that?"

"Why don't you ask your boyfriend, Risk?" Beckett stepped off the elevator on her floor and Espo followed her. He pulled out his cell phone and called Knight while Beckett went into the women's room to change. She looked at herself in the mirror and realized her makeup was still messed up from sleeping so she bit her lip in annoyance and washed her face.

"The head of the CIA gave you that name?" Esposito asked as Beckett walked past him.  
>"Yeah, is there a problem with that?" Kate raised an eyebrow and Detective Ryan walked over when he saw her.<p>

"So, Risk also says he has no comment on why you were wearing his clothes," Esposito added with a smile.

"You were wearing his shirt?"

"And sweatpants," Espo added before Beckett could respond. "She looked cozy."

"Look you guys, here's what happened." Kate sat down at her desk and looked up at the other detectives. "We went to dinner..." Ryan smirked. "With the SecDef and a bunch of alphabet soup heads. I felt awkward there so I drank a little too much wine. Knight brought me home..." Esposito hummed and flicked his eyebrows. Beckett narrowed her eyes and continued. "Because my apartment is a crime scene. I didn't want to sleep in my clothes." Epsosito and Ryan crossed their arms and smiled. "I didn't want to sleep in my _dress_ so I changed into some of his clothes and I fell asleep on his couch."

Espo shifted and quirked an eyebrow. "You honestly want me to believe that Rick Knight let you sleep on his couch?"

"No, I slept in bed."

Ryan jumped in. "So what aren't you telling us?"

"He... carried me..." her voice trailed off.

"I'm sorry, what?"

Kate was trying to hide her blush, but couldn't hide the smile in her voice. "He picked me up and carried me to bed." Ryan and Esposito both choked out a laugh. "In the guest room," she insisted, shaking her head.

Esposito dropped his hands to his sides and forced a straight face. "Of course. Now, when you say 'carried' do you mean bridal style or thrown over he shoulder like a damsel in distress."  
>"Or a sack of potatoes," Ryan said, snorting a laugh. Espo smiled. Beckett looked down and the corners of her mouth lifted. "Oh, so he was going for the <em>romantic<em> touch," Ryan said, turning to the other male detective.

"Look, I fell asleep in his arms-"

"Cute," Ryan stated.

"Not making this look any better for you," Espo added. "Also, weren't you already aleep? You know, before he picked you up?"

Beckett bit her cheek and glared at them. "I fell asleep on the couch. He picked me up. I woke up, then fell asleep again. When I woke up in the morning, he wasn't there."

"Oh," Esposito said, trying to sound somewhat sad. "He pulled the 'bed and bounce.'"

"Excuse me?"

"Something Risk perfected in Spain," he informed her. "Get the girl in bed, then bounce before  
>she wakes up. It's classic Risk."<p>

"Classic Risk is a board game," Ryan laughed.

"Dude," Espo looked at Ryan, who bowed his head, then back to Beckett. "I'm sorry, Detective, you're not the first woman he's gotten with that, and you won't be the last."

Ryan believed his thought was worth voicing. "Hey, they should start a support group." Beckett glared at him. "I have to go do something somewhere else." And with that, he left.

"So, we got an ID on the guy who sells the drugs we found at the sniper nest." Beckett was glad that Esposito changed the subject. "Street pharmacist named Chad Rodrick, lives in SoHo. Uniforms are bringing him in now."

Beckett looked up and caught Esposito smiling at something on the other side of the bullpen as he walked away. She spun her chair around and saw Knight walking toward her with two coffees. When she glared at him and stood up, his smiled fell off and he stopped. Kate thought she saw a wince as she grabbed his wrist and pulled him into the conference room.

"What were you thinking, Risk?" She hadn't intended to call him that, it just slipped out, but she decided to go with it. "No comment on why I was wearing your clothes?"

"Well," Knight started. "I assumed you were going to go home first."

"They think we slept together."

Knight laughed nervously. "That's ridiculous."

"I know that, Risk, but they don't." Then she rubbed her forehead and whispered, "God, I was less embarrassed when I walked out of the bedroom and your father was there."

"My what?"

Kate's eyes widened.

**First, I would like to point out the fact that I have not **_**once**_** used any derivation of the word 'tentative,' a word that seems to be required after Nathan Fillion's reading of **_**Heat Wave**_** at Comic Con. Second, I would like to thank everyone who's reading this for reading this and apologize for how long it took to get past my writer's block. And finally, I will try to get another chapter up before Sunday, however, I may not be able to.**

**Here's why I apologize for my cliff hanger. And my apology is just for the cliff hanger, not for the reason. I'm not going to apologize for being at Boot Camp for the next 13 weeks.**

**Semper Fi and Stay Frosty**

**-Laramie**


	8. Be Advised

**Be advised:**

**I sincerely apologize for the long day. Google Docs is telling me that my story hasn't been updated in 213 days. I intend to remedy this situation within the next few days. I know what's going to happen, so don't worry about that; it's just a matter of writing it all out.**

**I've been busy with Marine stuff that will keep me busy for a while, so don't expect regular update. My last one was the day before I left for boot camp, March 3. It's now October 3 so this requires immediate action. And if that doesn't work, it requires remedial action. Sorry, gun joke.**

**And the whole 'mentioning the NSA' in the story is a little weird because NSA is only a few miles away from me right now.**

**Up next… I will be publishing chapter 1 of another fan fiction: Semper. And don't worry, it's Castle. Might have some Lance Corporal Caskett in there.**


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